Technology is great, but my favorite portable music creation device is still manuscript paper. Unfortunately, that’s usually meant giant notebooks and/or ungainly stacks of loose-leaf music paper. Reader Joshua Schnable brings good news: one of the best notebook and sketchbook makers in the business, the legendary Moleskine, has released a gorgeous 8-staff music notebook:

At 9×14 cm it’s just the right size, with 192 pages. Made in Italy (like all great notebooks), with the trademark oilcloth-bound cover, acid-free pages, expanding pocket in the back, elastic band for securing the notebook and ribbon placeholder . . . well, anyone who knows the Moleskine stuff knows what I’m talking about. Now great musicians can join the ranks of Matisse, Hemingway, and other famous Moleskine customers.

And for anyone who doesn’t know what music notation is, Moleskine helpfully explains: “each staff consists of five horizontal lines, with four spaces between, on which musical notation is written.”

Lest you think I’m marketing for the Moleskine people, the notebook is sadly out-of-stock — bet they didn’t realizing how many budding Beethovens would snap this up. A notification list is available for when they’re shipping again.

A few months ago, I lusted after this little notebook to have as a companion to my grided lyrics moleskine. Then I saw the Pocket Mod, which is a free, customizable 8 page notebook that you print and fold yourself. They have page templates for both graph and music staff. Not nearly as nice as a moleskine, but free and small. It would be good for jotting ideas, I suppose.

As it turns out, I'm glad I saved my $10 on the moleskine, since I rarely found occasion to write down any melodies on the Pocket Mod. Plus, it's pretty easy to turn my moleskine grid into a music staff.

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. . . the appeal to the Moleskin to me is that something that gorgeous that actually cost money . . . why, I'd have to try to take it everywhere and completely fill it!